


Dearly Beloved

by Steangine



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Age Difference, Aomine student, Fluff, Kuroko teacher, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 17:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14360475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steangine/pseuds/Steangine
Summary: Aomine likes Kuroko and confesses to him. The only little problem is that Kuroko is his teacher and Aomine has just graduated from middle school.[Requested on tumblr - very fluffy]





	Dearly Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by vodkaliciousunflower on Tumblr. I was a bit afraid because of the age difference, but I'm satisfied of the result.

“Tetsu-sensei, I love you.”

The eraser fell on the floor. That was the only sign that showed how those words took Kuroko aback. Aomine felt a boast of pride running through his whole body – and together happiness and embarrassment were fighting to show who was the first among the emotions that were devouring him in that moment.

Kuroko took some time to turn –good– and when he did, his face was a deadpanned mask that nothing could pierce – not good at all. He didn’t speak immediately; every second lasted like minutes for Aomine, who was torn between running away and laughing like an idiot, pretending it was all a joke. But his legs, so swift on the basketball court, were heavy as if he sank into some concrete till his knees. He just stared at his substitute teacher – probably with a silly face, but his brain didn’t register that unwanted information.

“Aomine-kun.” His voice was as gentle as always. “It’s Kuroko-sensei.”

Aomine expected everything, he was also prepared at witnessing a Kuroko-sensei no one had ever seen, angered and screaming in disgust. Instead, he corrected him as he did whenever Aomine called him like that – mostly when Aomine was in detention and no one could hear him.

“I graduated! I’m not a student of Teikou anymore!” Aomine lowered his eyes. “Even if I would have lost one year to spend more time with you…”

He was taller than Kuroko, but in that moment, he felt much shorter.

Kuroko started his career in Aomine’s third year of middle school. Everyone noticed at a first glance how their new teacher was short and looked weak. Some of them didn’t listen, others mocked him. Aomine just didn’t care. At least until he realized Kuroko cared about all of them. Kuroko sensei always had time for them, always had a kind word – and all the pranks they tried to put on him didn’t work. Everyone admired that teacher who appeared from nowhere like a phantom and cared for every single of his students. Aomine loved this part of him and hated it. Because he was jealous, and the lightning of the realization struck him one day of October.

“Don’t be silly, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine raised his head, he was hurt. Kuroko could read it in his eyes.

“You should put yourself at the center of your thoughts. I know it’s difficult to realize at your age, but you can’t waste a precious year of your life to run after me.”

“It wouldn’t be wasted time to me.”

Aomine could have yelled – and that would have been much better than his low resigned voice. Kuroko put down on the desk the book he was about to put away in his bag before Aomine stormed into the classroom.

“Aomine-kun, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to make fun or your feelings nor invalidating them.” He stopped and glanced at his hands. “I recognize them, I know how they are important for you. But I do not feel the same towards you.”

“I know…”

Aomine’s cheeks turned red, he had both hands sunk into the pockets of the trousers and the head low; he was staring at the book on the desk. The usual high school-looking Aomine Daiki, looked like the lost middle schooler he was. Kuroko smiled.

“Were you expecting something different?”

“Actually… no. I didn’t know what to expect, so I wasn’t expecting anything.” Aomine dared to raise his eyes. “Maybe we won’t meet anymore, and I just wanted you to know.” He opened his mouth, then closed it, and finally continued. “That was selfish.”

“Not at all. Better being embarrassed that being regretful.”

“I’m not embarrassed.” But Aomine’s cheeks and his ears showed a nice shade of red. “I’m sorry, Tetsu-sensei.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Aomine looked back at his shoes and it took him a great effort to raise his head. “I kept drinking your vanilla shakes… during your first days…”

“I know.”

All of a sudden, all the embarrassment that chained Aomine on the spot vanished, replaced by a deep shock.

“…what?”

“I know that Kawaguchi-kun stole my book, while Mizushima-san put the chalks into my bag. I know what each of you did.”

“…how?”

Kuroko smirked. “The perks of being a _phantom_.”

“You… you know about the nickname too?”

“Of course. And I also know how you pretended to be mean with Sakurai, while you kicked off who bullied him and asked Sakata-san out because nobody would, but she turned you out since she thought you were making fun of her.”

Aomine blushed again. He didn’t know which way he should gaze without intercepting Kuroko’s calming (and charming) eyes.

“Why didn’t you punish us?”

“I did.” Kuroko affirmed. “I was the one who made you assign to the library association. Of course, if the pranks hadn’t stopped, I would have punished you like an old school teacher.”

Aomine was amazed. But, among all the things he wanted to say, he picked up the one which made his blood boil the most.

“So it’s your fault I missed so many basketball trainings!”

Kuroko raised his right thumb, keeping a straight face. “You’re right.”

Aomine snorted and all his irritation went away in a last sigh. “It was a nice year. I liked it.”

“I liked it too.” Kuroko smiled. “I had an amazing class. I’ll miss you all.”

“I will… miss you, Tetsu-sensei.”

Aomine breathed out with thin voice but looking directly into his eyes. Kuroko felt the strength of his feelings and they overwhelmed him for a single instant, which was enough to shake him. He realized that, might that be a crush or something deeper, Aomine believed in what he was feeling. It was strong and frail at the same time. Kuroko knew he was walking on a trail of glass, where stomping would have created a crack that wouldn’t have stopped.

“Promise me one thing, Aomine-kun.”

“What?” When Kuroko didn’t reply, but only looked at him, Aomine nodded. “Yes, I will.”

Such a naïve trust, Kuroko thought. Aomine could have replied he couldn’t promise without knowing if the promise was within the range of his possibilities, but he threw himself into the void, because he trusted Kuroko. Did he have such a great power over him? That idea frightened Kuroko.

“You have to promise me that you’ll always think about your own good. And make good friends. And…” He hesitated. “…these feelings, treasure them, but do not let them get you.”

Aomine opened his mouth. “What… does this mean?”

“This is the last test. A little present for you.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Okay, okay.” Kuroko chuckled. “I’ll give you a hint then. If I told you to jump from a bridge, would you do it?”

“Eh? No way!”

“It means you are one step closer to the solution. Keep this in mind.” Kuroko took the book from the desk. “And keep this in your bag.”

Aomine grabbed the book Kuroko tended to him and looked at the old cover with no words written nor carved on it. “Fairy tales?” He opened it, he didn’t want to believe that Tetsu, the teacher who read Nietzsche during lunch to rest his mind, actually walked around with a book of fairy tales. But he recognized a sentence from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. He raised his eyes.

“I can’t believe it. So this is the book you always have with you!”

“That’s the first book I’ve read on my own without anyone helping me.”

Suddenly, Aomine felt the importance of the book he was holding. And he released a bit the grip, as if he was afraid to ruin it.

“It’s yours now.”

“…why me?”

“It’s not a sop, don’t make that look. That is my gratitude for your feelings. Not in the way I expected, but I harvested what I planted.” He smiled. “One year ago, you wouldn’t have even admitted you like to cuddle stray cats…”

“Tetsu-sensei, I’m suing you for stalking.”

“…and today you came to me and opened your heart. You made me feel proud of myself.”

Kuroko did something Aomine had never seen him doing: he touched his cheek, as if he didn’t know what to do, and let some signs of embarrassment escape from his blank mask. Other times he showed emotions to his students, but in that moment, he seemed closer to the normal than the usual and Aomine felt he was desperately falling in love even more.

“Tetsu-sensei. I will meet you again in the future.” He declared. “And when we will, I’ll be worthy of you. But when that time will come, I…” It was difficult adding something else.

“Take care of yourself, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko said. “Fall in love, don’t let my ghost hold you back in any way. Laugh, cry, do what you want. I’ll be more than happy to meet with you again.”

Only few years earlier, Aomine thought while looking at his teacher. If only he was born few years earlier, he would have courted his teacher, because in that case Kuroko wouldn’t have been his teacher.

“Yes. It’s a promise, Tetsu-sensei.”

But he would have grown up, Aomine said to himself as he walked out of the room, knowing that many months or maybe years would have passed before he could have seen again Kuroko. He would have grown up and, if his feelings didn’t cool down, he would have tried again. This time, age wouldn’t have been a problem anymore.

Eight years.

Kuroko hadn’t changed at all: same height, same look, same face, Aomine thought.

Aomine turned into a fine adult, but there was still something of the middle schooler he recalled, Kuroko thought.

“Hello, Aomine-kun. I guess we are colleagues from now on.”

“Yes… I decided to give it a try and aiming for my old middle school…” Aomine scratched the back of his head. “…and I made it.”

“English literature teacher… I can’t believe it, you were terrible at English back then.”

“That’s because all the books you gave us on the goodbye list for our graduation were in English and I had to adapt.”

Aomine spoke as if Kuroko was guilty of putting some more knowledge on him and making Aomine realize he was really good with English, more than he himself had ever suspected.

“So… I’m here, Tetsu-sensei.”

“I’m not your teacher anymore.”

“I know.”

Kuroko looked at the man in front of him, but all he could see was his clumsy student who dropped his cool attitude.

“Hey, Tetsu.” Aomine was about to add the _sensei_ but stopped in between pronouncing the first letter. “From now on we’ll be colleagues. Sounds strange.”

“A bit.” Kuroko smiled. “I hope we’ll get along as we did during middle school.”

“But if you gave us so many homework we didn’t have any free time!”

“That was nothing. You should see the homework I’ve been giving lately.”

“You are a demon…”

Kuroko chuckled. “If you have no plans for this weekend, maybe we can go drink something, so you’ll tell me how your first week was.”

Aomine’s face turned red.

“Ah, damn it… I can’t go to the students like this…”

“That’s not a date.”

“I know!” Aomine took a deep breath. “I know… I… had a girlfriend. And made many friends in America. I was happy, Tetsu.”

Kuroko looked at Aomine but didn’t reply immediately.

“I know. Just by looking at you, I realized it. I’m glad you have listened to my words.”

“I always listened to you!”

“Except when I told you to bring a hat to make that small game to learn the themes of the novel we were reading, and you brought a cat.”

“It’s not like you complained. You spent the whole hour cuddling her.”

Aomine smirked.

“Now I better go, or I’ll be late.”

He stopped near the door and looked back. The light outside the window was similar to that time, even if Aomine didn’t really recall what was around him when he confessed to his teacher. His mind carved him and Kuroko off the background and stick both into an eternal place of his mind that was still vivid as if he had lived that scene few minutes before.

“Tetsu-sensei… I think I may still like you…” Aomine glanced at the ceiling, looking for the right words. “Actually, if you hadn’t changed much, I think you may be my type.”

Kuroko sighed. “Aomine-kun. I'm not your sensei anymore.”

Aomine’s laugh echoed into the corridor as he left. Kuroko still perceived the middle schooler inside the adult. He smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it. It's very short, but writing this soothed my soul.


End file.
